


echoes of a city that's long overgrown

by pillowcrease



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: AND GAY, F/F, Let's not forget that, also for chapter 2 ive upped the rating to T! getting there, can i put more emphasis on sleepy scientists, sleepy scientists, some mentions of alcohol, some mentions of greek mythology idk man, they get a little bit more unfiltered when there's wine involved, they're just. very sleepy and soft okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 10:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7888453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pillowcrease/pseuds/pillowcrease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t know if you’re being serious or if you’re just obnoxiously flirting with me. Actually, don’t answer. It’s probably both.”<br/>Holtzmann lazily smirked with her eyes closed. “Probably.” Her hair was almost out of its intricate knot and Erin threaded her fingers through it. “You,” Holtzmann said, “have such strong yet gentle hands.” She whimpered slightly when a finger got caught in a tangle, then yawned again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In which the firehouse is without electrical power for a night and the four of them get slightly intoxicated and Holtzmann and Erin get slightly intimate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the great thunderstorm inspiring this fic. :')  
> My first (half? ish?) completed fic! I will probably write a second part to this at some point, for now it's just a soft one-shot. Thank you so much for reading this if you do, I appreciate it greatly :~) 
> 
> I was listening to Beach House while writing this and it ended up being THIS soft. Oh well.
> 
> Oh yeah, my first language isn't English so if I make any dumb grammar mistakes please let me know! 
> 
> (Come say hi to me on tumblr -- jfcholtzmann.tumblr.com)

Thor didn’t have a particular liking for the Ghostbusters, it seemed. Someone in the headquarters must have really pissed him off. Erin suspects it was Holtzmann with her strange creations that defied the physics taught in class – her proton packs would definitely confuse a higher being from an ancient civilisation.

          “Erin. Quit whining and come join the fireworks show!” Patty had gestured her over to the windowsill. An average of 2.6E6 Watt/hour per bolt aside, lightning did look quite astounding. There wasn’t really a good metaphor to describe it or something to compare them to.

  
          “You know, I can see why the ancient Greek decided that whoever made lightning possible, should be the supreme deity,” Erin had said. Abby had shushed her and told her that for a particle physicist with an MIT degree, she really should stop talking about mythology. Holtzmann had said, while munching on a Pringle and spraying crumbs everywhere, “Hera was kind of hot. So riled up all the time.” She nudged Erin, earning herself a confused look. Holtzmann just smirked.

 

 

That was what happened before. Half a minute later, it went completely dark.

 

 

“Holtz? Was that you?”

 

“I’m standing right next to you.” Holtzmann tickled her fingers in Erin’s neck. “Booyah.”

 

“Stop that.”

 

 

Abby sighed. “We’re scientists here, Erin. A lightning bolt probably hit one of the power lines and the electrical surge blew the circuit breaker.”  
Holtzmann made an approving noise from somewhere. She’d disappeared from Erin’s side.

“Why aren’t you the technician in this household, Yates?” Holtzmann’s voice came from beside Patty. There was a soft click and light lit Holtzmann’s face from underneath. “Boo!”

Patty yelled. “Do you ever stop it, Holtzy? You’re actually gonna give me a heart attack one of these days.”

 

Erin found some candles in an overflowed drawer while Holtzmann went to check out the blown circuit breaker with her flashlight. With Abby getting the matches and Patty the blankets, they made themselves cosy on the couches around the coffee table.

A couple of minutes later, Holtzmann came back from the basement of the firehouse.  
“Are we having a séance here? Well, that circuit board is completely gone. Done with. Boom. Poof, etcetera. We’re going to have to wait until the shops open to get a new one.”  
Patty suggested the genius engineer made one herself but, as the latter said, that’s way too much of a difficult task to do with a weak flashlight on a Thursday evening.

  

And so they braced themselves for a night spent in the complete dark. It was only 8 PM, so Abby got them some wine from an obscure closet and they just talked for a while.

  
Patty told them about strange encounters and customers in her time working at the MTA.  
Holtzmann gushed about a new invention without being able to show them the prototype. No one really understood what exactly she was talking about.  
They shared childhood stories—Abby and Erin reminisced some high school blunders, mostly on Erin’s side.

 

          “Remember when uh, Jeff, convinced you there was a ghost in the bathroom in the east wing?” Abby laughed. “You didn’t go to math for weeks!” She hiccuped. “I had to give you your homework! Oh my god!”

 

          “Alright now, Abby.” Erin frowned slightly. That wasn’t really her best high school memory.

 

Patty clapped in her hands. “I think it’s about time we got this hilarious drunk to her respective bedroom. I’m gonna go try and get some sleep as well.”

 

 

They said good night to each other. Then it was just Holtzmann and Erin.

 

 

Holtzmann noticed that Erin was shifting uncomfortably on her part of the couch and moved closer to her. She pressed her thigh into Erin’s. “You okay?”  
Erin sighed a bit shakily. “I’m fine. I didn’t exactly like that part of high school. You know, the people, beside Abby. I’m glad there are more people now who take me seriously.”

A small smile played on Holtzmann’s lips. Erin couldn’t help but think she looked strangely enticing in this candlelight. “I know I’ve had some wine, but I’m serious. About that.”

“I’m glad I’m your friend as well, ghost girl.” Holtzmann moved so her head lay in Erin’s lap and yawned. “Can I please fall asleep here, Erin, _darling_.” She looked up to Erin and her eyes fluttered. Erin pretended it didn’t effect her.

“I don’t know if you’re being serious or if you’re just obnoxiously flirting with me. Actually, don’t answer. It’s probably both.”  
Holtzmann lazily smirked with her eyes closed. “Probably.” Her hair was almost out of its intricate knot and Erin threaded her fingers through it. “You,” Holtzmann said, “have such strong yet gentle hands.” She whimpered slightly when a finger got caught in a tangle, then yawned again.

 

Biting her lip, Erin asked, “Holtz?” She nudged the lazy cat-like scientist. “I don’t deal very well with darkness. It’s uh, the nightmares. That’s why I always have on a nightlight. But, well, the electricity’s not working. Which is obviously why we’re even here right now. I was just wondering if we could, you know…” She trailed off.

Holtzmann looked up at her. “Erin Gilbert,” she drawled, “is this your very drawn out way of asking me to sleep with you?”

And thank god it was near-dark, because Erin flushed deep red. “Holtz! I didn’t mean it like that and you know it.”

 

Holtzmann extended her arm and stroked Erin’s face softly, causing Erin’s heart to beat just a little bit faster. “C’mere.” She tried dragging Erin down. A little bit of shuffling later they were both lying horizontal on the not-so-broad couch. Erin had her back to the back of the couch and Holtzmann had wrapped herself entirely around the taller scientist. Her face was pressed into Erin’s neck. Blonde hair tickled Erin’s nose. She hummed. “Somehow, you’ve made this position feel comfortable.”  
Holtzmann just chuckled softly.

 

          “Just go to sleep, you… competent particle physicist.”

 

          “What kind of compliment is that?”

 

          “Shhh! I thought you made it clear you didn’t like me obnoxiously flirting with you, so I tried something different. It was an experiment.” Holtzmann’s voice came muffled from Erin’s sweater.

 

          “Oh.” Erin shifted her arm slightly. The smaller scientist tightened her grip on Erin’s waist.

  

 

When it seemed like the blonde might be asleep, Erin said, in a small voice, “I don’t mind when you obnoxiously flirt with me.”

 

 

And just before Holtzmann fell asleep, she felt soft lips press to the top of her head. “Good night.”

  
She smiled into Erin’s sweater.


	2. Chapter 2

Quiet shuffling and shushing sounds is what awakes Erin at 8 AM the next morning.

 

            “Look at them.”

 

Patty hums. “Been a while since I was that intimate with someone. Like, this right here is an entire new level for me that I aspire to reach someday.”  

 

Bleary-eyed, Erin peeks up at the two scientists standing next to the couch. “Hmpf.”

 

            “Look at that! Miss Tweed 2016 has awoken!” Abby says.

 

            “I need coffee.” Erin makes sure to very carefully untangle herself from the still sleeping blonde. Holtzmann’s hair is now entirely loose and falls in soft curls around her face. She looks very warm, Erin thinks. Soft, warm, sleepy. It’s a side of Holtzmann that Erin wasn’t sure existed, until last night.

Patty hands her a steaming mug that has the chemical formula of caffeine printed on it. It’s Erin’s favourite. Carefully, she takes a sip.

 

            “Ah. That is so good. Hmm.” She closes her eyes.

 

            “You alright?” Patty asks.

 

            “She really likes coffee. _Really_ likes it.” Abby explains to her.

 

            “You’re one of those people, huh.”

 

            “Patty, please let me enjoy my morning coffee in peace.” Erin says.

 

Patty holds up her hands in mock-defence. “I ain’t saying anything.”

 

Erin looks over to Holtzmann, who’s silently regarding the rest of them. Erin smiles. “Good morning.” Holtzmann smiles back at her.

 

A moment of silence passes between them. Then Patty announces, in a rather loud voice so early in the morning, that she and Abby ‘ _have to go’._ Erin wishes them good luck with whatever they’re going to do.

           

            “Yeah, you too, man.” Patty tells her. Erin just looks slightly confused.

 

 

An hour later, they’re both fully awake and fully dressed – really, the only thing Holtzmann had done when deciding to sleep on the couch was taking off her bra from underneath her shirt - and they’re sitting on the couch once again.

 

            “You know we could watch The X-Files. Patty and Abby aren’t here, so they wouldn’t know. Kevin would probably not even notice,” Erin suggests.

 

            “Erin, _love_ , we don’t have electricity. Unless you’re gonna act out scenes of Dana Scully investigating possible government conspiracies, which I would happily watch, by the way, I don’t see how we can watch The X-Files right now.”

Erin frowns. “Oh yeah. Can you get on that? The electricity?”

Holtzmann does her weird two-fingered salute and goes down to the basement to take a look or two at the circuit breaker.

 

Erin cheers when all the lights, the radio and the TV turn on again at once ten minutes later.

 

Holtzmann comes up from downstairs, boom box on her shoulder, blasting Can’t Stop the Feeling! By Justin Timberlake. She puts the boom box down on the floor and her head snaps up just as the chorus sets in. Making eye contact with Erin, she makes a microphone out of a screwdriver. _Did she just produce that screwdriver out of thin air?_   Erin thinks. She laughs.

 

_Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance_

She dances towards Erin. She extends a hand and drags Erin onto an imaginary dance floor. Holtzmann takes to singing in Erin’s face, bouncing playfully around and dragging Erin along with her.

 

            “Ugh, you’re getting spit in my eye.”

 

            “You’re ruining it, Gilbert.”

 

 

It’s over far too quickly for Erin’s liking. She sits down on the couch. “This is my couch now.”

 

            “Scoot.”

 

And that’s how they end up strangely close together on a couch again in a timespan of no less than ten hours. Holtzmann casually announces that Patty and Abby won’t be back until approximately noon, so Erin quickly grabs the remote and turns on The X-Files. Holtzmann, who’s sitting on the other side of the couch, her and Erin’s legs intertwined, points out when Scully looks particularly gorgeous. Erin hums in agreement but shushes her nonetheless.

 

            “I really don’t care about anything else on this show but Dana Katherine Scully, Erin.”

 

            “I’m trying to watch the show!”

 

            “Come on.” Holtzmann pokes Erin with her toes. “You watched this stuff religiously as a kid. And as a lesbian, I know that Gillian Anderson is a very attractive woman. One might say she can cause a young person, you, perhaps, to re-examine their sexuality.”

 

            “I know, okay.” Erin purses her lips. “I’m just trying to watch this episode, it’s really good.”

 

            “It’s not that good.”

 

            “How dare you.” Erin pushes Holtzmann’s foot out of her face.

 

Holtzmann just widens her eyes in response.

 

 

They watch in silence for another ten minutes, until Erin speaks up again.

 

            “You’re right, by the way.”

 

Holtzmann’s head perks up.

 

            “I’m not exactly, straight.” Erin tries very hard not to blush, but alas.

 

Holtzmann grins. She awkwardly pats Erin’s leg. “Ha! I totally called that.”

 

            “You did! Now please be quiet.”

 

            “ _Scully_ , though, Erin.” Holtzmann marvels at the sight of the tiny redheaded woman on their TV. “Look at those glasses. That’s incredible.”

 

            “I had the biggest crush on her as a kid, actually.” Erin says.

 

            “Oh, I love not-straight Erin.”

 

Erin hums and tries not to smile, pursing her lips. She doesn’t take her eyes off the TV.

 

 

When Abby and Patty return to the firehouse a little while later, both Erin and Holtzmann have turned to their own work. Erin’s working on a new, complicated formula, while the genius engineer is soldering metal parts together, whistling along to a tune on the radio.

 

            “You got the electricity working again!” Abby says.

            “Piece of cake, Yates. I’m definitely the better technician out of the both of us,” Holtzmann responds.

 

            “Hey, thanks, Holtzy.” Patty slaps the technician on her shoulder. Then, Patty moves down her head closer to Holtzmann’s and starts talking in a hushed tone. “You doing good with Erin?”

 

            “Hmm?”

 

            “I mean, like,” Patty looks over at the particle physicist in question, “ _romantically_ ,” she whispers.

Holtzmann doesn’t look up. “I think we’re getting there,” she confesses with a smile.

Patty grins. “That’s so great. I’m really happy for you, man.”

 

 

After an evening spent celebrating they got the power back up and running in the firehouse (Abby ordered takeout, which wasn’t that ground-breaking since none of them actually ever bother to cook decent meals), Abby and Patty say goodbye to the two remaining Ghostbusters.

Kevin took off way earlier, claiming he had to get a decent night’s sleep to be ready for his first dog show tomorrow. _Does Kevin own a dog?_ Abby had wondered out loud. None of them had any idea. Holtzmann suggested Kevin himself was a dog. Which would make sense in the way that he still – six months! Six! – did not know how to use the phone correctly.

 

Holtzmann leaves the table and goes upstairs to the lab. Erin hears her rummaging around, then the noise completely stops.

Feeling antsy, Erin starts cleaning up the mess they had made. Empty carton boxes, napkins, disposable chopsticks. She wrinkles her nose. Gross.

 

When she’s done, Erin checks her watch. 11 PM. She supposes she should say good night to Holtzmann before going to her own apartment.

First, she has to locate said engineer. Holtzmann is not in her lab, Erin concludes after opening every obscure cupboard and peeking under every table and device in the organized mess that is the lab. A cool breeze tickles her bare arms.

The door to the fire escape is open. It leads to an open roof, where she spots Holtzmann. She doesn’t have her tinted glasses on, instead she’s sitting on a bench, a bottle of wine next to her.

 

            “Hi.”

 

            “I was hoping me mentally calling you would work! I should really look into making devices for telepathy.” Holtzmann pats down next to her on the bench. “Come sit.”

 

They do have a thing about intimacy late at night shared over a bottle of wine, Erin thinks. Gingerly, she sits down. Holtzmann hands her the bottle of wine. Erin eyes her cautiously.

           

            “How much have you had?”

 

            “I’ve been up here for, like, ten minutes. That’s not enough time to get really drunk on wine.” She pauses, eyes Erin, then says, “Four sips.”

Erin takes a sip and looks up at the sky, which has completely opened up after last night’s storm. It’s clear and the stars are visible, even in the New York City lights.

She starts pointing out constellations.

           

            “Big dipper. That’s Leo, I think. Taurus should be there, somewhere.”

 

Holtzmann joins in. “That is,” she says, tracing an intricate pattern with her finger, “Delphine.”

 

            “What?”

 

            “It kind of looks like a dolphin! See, there.” Holtzmann scoots closer to Erin so she’s entirely pressed up against her. She takes Erin’s arm, moves her face very close to Erin’s and repeats the intricate pattern, with Erin’s finger this time.

 

            “I kind of see it.” Erin smiles, still sitting very close to the other scientist. It’s dark. Holtzmann can’t see the way she’s blushing, but she’s pretty sure her heartbeat is what tips her off. She looks at Holtzmann, who’s still staring at the sky, mouth open in awe.  

 

            “Hey.”

 

Holtzmann takes her eyes off the sky, focusses on Erin instead.

 

            “I…” Erin tries to make a complete sentence, but Holtzmann’s face in the soft glow of the city lights makes her forget what she was trying to say. She traces Holtzmann’s cheek. Looks at her lips. They look very soft.

 

            “Erin.”

 

            “Can I?”

 

Holtzmann nods quickly, eyes widened, and Erin goes in.

 

It’s a good kiss. Holtzmann’s lips are maybe even softer than they look. Holtzmann kisses back, cupping Erin’s face with her hands. Erin swipes her tongue against the blonde’s lower lip, opening her mouth. Holtzmann kisses back, with the same precision that is what her inventions make so wonderful. They kiss. It isn’t until Holtzmann moves to straddle Erin’s thighs that they break apart momentarily.

 

            “Whoa there, Holtz.”

 

Holtzmann leans back.

Erin adds, quickly, “Are you sure about this? Because I am, and this definitely isn’t any type of alcohol or mixed feeling speaking right now.”

 

            “I’m sure about this.” Holtzmann responds. She grins.

 

Turns out it’s very hard to kiss properly when you’re both grinning widely. Erin moves her head to Holtzmann’s shoulder, laughing into her sweater.

 

            “You’re making me laugh!”

 

            “I’m not even doing anything!”

 

            “You ruined it, Holtz.”

 

            “I know how I could _really_ ruin this. Want to know a fun animal fact?”

 

            “ _No!”_ Erin laughs into Holtzmann’s shoulder. Her voice is muffled.

 

            “Didn’t hear you! Did you know that elephants have—”

 

Erin doesn’t get to hear the ending of that fun fact, as she kisses Holtzmann again.

 

            “That was just to shut you up.”

 

            “You’re a real lady, Gilbert.”

 

            “Shut up.”

 

They kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ta da! my first completed fic!
> 
> I really hope you liked it. This chapter has Holtz gushing over Dana Scully in it, which is always a very relatable gay thing, hehe.  
> Also, I listened to the Carol soundtrack on repeat for this chapter. I don't know if it's my writing style or if I should stop listening to super soft music if I don't want to write super soft stories :') 
> 
> Anyways, ramble over, let me know what u think! Kudos and comments make me really happy so thank you so much for leaving them <3  
> I also have a tumblr, which is jfcholtzmann :~)


End file.
